Teeth

Christoph Meckel is an important representative of German poetry at the beginning of the 21st century. Following on from his great cycles of love poems published in the 1980s – Säure, Souterrain, and Anzahlung auf ein Glas Wasser – this volume combines different forms and themes of his poetic oeuvre. Amid the invocations and elegies, one finds also quieter, ironic and subdued tones. "The poem cannot be deflected by doubt/Its story is taken up at the next corner, at any time, in any tongue..." These lines from one of his poems accurately define Meckel's poetic views. "In his verses, he combines, in a seemingly matter-of-fact and unassuming manner, the precise description of everyday reality with the status quo of the lyrical ego." (Der Tagesspiegel)